The 5 Money-Saving Habits That Could be Costing you Money
No matter what your money goals might be – whether you simply want to make your cash go further, or you want to save up for a deposit on a new home, you need the right savings habits in place. Forming financial habits helps you to avoid making bad decisions with your expenses and ensures that you always have something to fall back on if times get hard.
While some saving habits, like tracking your expenses and keeping your budget up to date are great for you and your family – others might not be as beneficial as you’d think. In fact, there are plenty of savings habits out there that could actually be holding you back from reaching your goals. Here, we’ll take a look at the top money-saving habits that may be costing you money.
1. Driving an Old Car
Since investing in an old car also means spending a serious amount of cash, or investing in a hefty loan, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the best thing you can do is stick with your old vehicle for longer. Although avoiding a spend on a new car might be a good idea for a while, eventually, you could find that you end up costing yourself more money than it would cost to simply upgrade.
The cost of maintaining an old car, from repairs and MOTs to extra money on fuel, can be a nightmare. Older vehicles generally eat up more petrol, and they aren’t as efficient as modern models. While it is a big investment to begin with, buying a new car could save you more in the long-term, particularly if you use your vehicle a lot.
2. Buying Items in the Sale
We all love a good sale. There’s nothing like finding something you love and discovering that you can now get it for 15% off. However, the only reason you should purchase something during a sale is if you were going to need to buy it anyway.
One of the biggest threats of the sale is the fact that we can so easily convince ourselves that it’s okay to spend extra money because something is 20 or 30% cheaper than it once was. Some companies even use “fake” discounts to help drive people to make a purchase. For instance, they advertise a big discount, but the discounted price actually is a lot less than you’d think. Don’t buy anything on impulse – even a sale item.
3. Buying Cheap Clothing
You don’t need to have the latest designer garments when you’re spending on new clothing, but that doesn’t mean that you should always choose cheap or second-hand goods instead. Ultimately, clothing is something we all use on a daily basis, and sometimes the more you spend, the longer your clothes will last. High-end designer brands are all about style, but moderately-priced items can be more expensive because of the quality of the materials they use.
Buying cheap clothing at a discount can seem like a good idea to save money in the short term, but the chances are that those clothes will fall apart much faster than something you buy with a higher initial investment.
4. Buying More to Get Free Shipping
Have you ever found yourself buying products online, and when you go to the checkout, you find out that you can ship those items for free if you just spend another £20? It’s tempting to tell yourself that you might as well spend the extra if you were going to spend £9.99 on shipping anyway – but you’re still spending more than you planned.
In some cases – such as when you’re going to spend £6 on shipping, or you need to spend £6 to get the postage for free, it makes sense to tip the scales in your favour. However, don’t use free shipping as an excuse to buy products you don’t really want or need.
5. Investing in Extended Warranties
If you’re worried about an expensive product accidentally breaking, it’s easy for a salesperson to convince you that buying an extended warranty is a good idea. However, most of the time, warranties simply aren’t worth the money. Remember that you’ll get a guarantee on your product regardless of what you buy, so make sure that you check how long you’re covered with the manufacturer.
At the same time, remember that repairing items – even expensive ones, isn’t as costly as you might think. Usually, you’d pay more on the warranty than you would on a repair.
